Get your gear on, get your time off

Schauder's challenge was a test case that is backed by some 120 other Muenster policemen with identical grievances. Photo / Wikimedia Commons

BERLIN: A German policeman's lot is a decidedly happier one after a court ruling that awarded an officer from the city of Muenster an extra week's holiday to compensate for the time he spends donning his uniform each day.

Martin Schauder, 44, was awarded extra holiday, or the equivalent in pay, by a court in the west German city after persuading judges that the 15 minutes he spent putting on the kit amounted to overtime.

Erich Rettinghaus, the head of the police trade union in the state of North Rhine Westphalia, where Schauder is based, said the ruling cleared up an issue that had long been a thorn in the side of the force.

He said the court accepted the officer's claim that he was giving his employers the equivalent of 45 to 50 hours a year because of the uniform requirements.

"It means that each day he shows up a quarter of an hour earlier for work than he actually has to," Rettinghaus said.

Schauder's challenge was a test case that is backed by some 120 other Muenster policemen with identical grievances. About 1000 more in the state have similar claims.

- Independent